Musician's comments on the third Tinos Jazz Festival

The third edition of this festival, dedicated to Ladies of Jazz, presented 8 jazz bands with musicians from Finland, France, Canada, England, Puerto Rico and Greece. The artistic director of the festival, George Kontrafouris, presented a program with a repertoire ranging from traditional jazz standards to more contemporary and modern jazz. It was just great performances from great musicians. A still young festival with warm and friendly atmosphere open to every jazz addict or simply jazz lover.

"This 3rd Tinos Jazz Festival 2011, that I presented to the audience all these four days, was a very interesting Festival dedicated to the " ladies of Jazz " . Those four days , musician's gathered from Europe, Latin America and Greece , trying to show us how mainly Jazz music combines traditional melodies and rythm's. A Jazz Festival that " travelled " us, from Jazz standard's up to experimental musical forms and imrovised music. THIS JAZZ FESTIVAL MUST GO...ON !!!

Thank's a lot to George Kontrafouris, Patricia Graire and Markos Vidalis."

“Jazz Festival in Tinos, a real discovery ! It was a pleasure to play and live to the rhythm of the festival full of good and positive energy, who was spread (no doubt about that ) by its organizers. An extremely varied and judicious choice of programming: Jazz, of course, but colorfull jazz . A big thank you to George , Markos and Patricia, and the beautiful and windy Tinos !”

Lionel Fortin

"Within the overall degradation of the fixed values of life, the Jazz Festival of Tinos is an oasis of artistic creation. Both artists and listeners have experienced unforgettable moments and became partakers of the immediacy with which the audience approaches live Jazz and vice versa. I sincerely hope the flame of Tinos Jazz Festival will remain lit for years to come." Antonis Ladopoulos

"I had a great time in Tinos jazz festival. The welcome was very warm and relaxed, and the public was very enthusiastic. The festival also allowed me to meet excellent musicians from all over Europe. This experience was very rewarding.Thank you to all the team."

Anne Paceo

"Appearing at the Tinos Jazz Festival was an amazing experience for me. It has everything you could ever want from a festival - an excellent and varied music programme, a warm and appreciative audience and a magical setting on the beautiful island of Tinos. Superb!"

Juliet Kelly

"It was a fascinating experience to be part of the The Tinos Jazz Festival. Every night was full of amazing musicians, the variety of jazz as a whole, and the audience was very receptive to the music. The island of Tinos is very beautiful and their residents and staff of the festival make us feel very comfortable and were very generous with us. I definitely would love to be part of this experience again !"

Shekinah Rodz

“Four interesting jazz nights with musicians from Greece and Europe with a very warm support from the public and people of Tinos. That’s all it takes for a festival to remain for the coming years ”

Nikos Kapilidis

"Perfectly organized by the most friendly people, the festival had a great stylistic range where everyone had his own place. It was a great honor to be part of this festival and one of our best experiences ! The beautiful island of Tinos is now synonymous of music on our map …"

Third Attempt Trio

"Tinos festival has all the characteristics needed to become an institution: very good organization, great musicians, excellent technical support, positive attitude, and all that in a Cycladic background. The only thing one can hope for this festival is to stand the test of time and adversity."Loukia Paleologou

"The Tinos Jazz festival was a powerful experience. The atmosphere of the island gave us new inspiration.The excellent organization gave me a very good impression.This is an institution that provides an opportunity for young and old / established artists to present their work. The audience of Tinos was very warm and enthusiastic and embraced jazz music and performers It is an experience I would definitely like to live again."

Penelope Tzanetaki

"It was an honour for me to participate in Tinos Jazz Festival 2011. Interesting ensembles, nice music, good crowd. I had a great time (Nikos my 13 month old son loved it as well !!!). See you next time."

Manos Loutas

“Woke up early morning on Thursday, went to pick up Lionel, drove to the airport with him and Shekinah, felt happy getting on the plane because I was coming back to Greece. After 7 hours traveling and a connecting flight finally arrived in Athens, see the smiling face of Nickos at the airport got to his place left the suitcase, went to a 5 hours rehearsal, very tired got to bed. Wake up early take the ferry, exchanged conversations about life with Nickos, after a nap suddenly I discovered Tinos. I was Astonished by the dry beauty of the island: rocks mixed with white and blue colors of the houses, all shades of brown mixed with the shades of blue of the sea & sky. We met with the staff of the festival, we discovered our hotel right on the beach, nice terrace viewing the sea with a swimming pool and I remember Miles Davis saying: "I always ask hotel with a pool even though I don't swim because I know they have to be good" lol.... finally seeing the one and only Giorgos Kontrafouris. Dang !!!! I missed him a lot ! I met old friends, some acquaintances, met new musicians, went to hear two excellent bands and finally on Saturday the reason why I choose to be musician: to share my passion with the audience and my band partners. I have to say that in this three days on Tinos island everything was a gift: the smooth and efficient organisation, the warmth of the audience, the beauty of the town, the quality of the hotel, the great instruments on stage, the concert hall, excellent sound engineer and the great perfomance of the band pushed by the coolness, the gentleness of all around us, the beauty of the landscape and the spirituality that exhales from the island.” Olivier Gatto

“I am very happy because i had the opportunity to participate in this special event. I played here also two years ago during the first festival and now i can say that things are more organised in every part. I enjoyed a lot the performances and the whole mood of the festival. Women have an important and many times unique role in jazz music. With the idea of George Kontrafouris, the artistic director, this role was the protagonist on the stage for four days in a row. See you next year....”

Christos Asonitis

"Tinos jazz festival was: A lovely festival in a Cycladic landscape with an excellent organization, a

positive energy, enthusiastic and lovable listeners and real good times between musicians. As musicians, we will always support such events."

Lito Voyatzoglou

"Everything went great. All the musicians did the best for the music and the atmosphere was very relaxed. The organization was very good and very friendly. I hope this festival will stay and spread the message."